With its distracting views across Clew Bay, might the latest Lotto winner, who purchased their €11 million ticket in Newport, Co Mayo, consider this tower house-inspired property?
A week ago, someone went into Kelly's Mace at the Circle K service station on the Mulranny Road in Newport, Co Mayo, bought a quick pick ticket and is now over €11 million richer, according to the National Lottery, which confirmed the winning ticket was worth €11,101,286.
Likely they’ll be in the market for a new swanky home and might consider Roslynagh Lodge, a 458 square metre, five-bedroom, five-bathroom waterfront property on an elevated promontory overlooking Clew Bay.
It is close to the Wild Atlantic Way, and about six kilometres outside Newport.
Address: Roslynagh Lodge, Ardagh, Newport, Co. Mayo, F28A2X7
Asking price: €1,700,000
Agent: Savills
Set on an elevated 6.5-acre site, the large property came to the market last September, its fenestration framing views of the islands, including Clare Island, pirate queen Granuaile’s HQ and her primary residence.
She had many tower houses along the Co Mayo coastline that she used as lookouts.
This is Granuaile country, a pirate queen who ruled the waves, her fortresses dotting the coastline, all boasting compelling sea views.
A strong west-of-Ireland woman, she sailed to London to meet with Queen Elizabeth I in 1593.
The English regent had a penchant for lopping the heads off people she did not like or who did not agree with her.
Grainne successfully brokered the release of her son and her brother, both arrested by the English Governor of Connaught, Richard Bingham.
Roslynagh’s aesthetic is strongly influenced by nearby Rockfleet Castle, once owned by the pirate queen but confiscated by Bingham, who established an English garrison there.
The residence is set around a courtyard and includes a tower house of its own as well as dramatic 12-foot-high timber doors into the double-height, theatrically large hall, one big enough to host two queens.
Look up, and you’ll see a mezzanine landing.
Face west, and two sets of double doors lead through to the lounge, a room you won’t want to leave.
The tri-aspect space frames the gilt-edged view, a distracting presence that changes every minute.
A door leads out to the paved exterior.
The rest of the property is divided into two wings, with the accommodation to the right.
Go left, and it leads through to a smaller living room, similarly scenic and on through to the large eat-in kitchen, also with access outside.
Behind the kitchen is a larder, utility room and shower room.
Four of the five bedrooms are on the ground floor, three of which have ensuite bathrooms.
The principal suite is set on the first floor within the tower house.
From here, you can see Croagh Patrick, the holy mountain, where St Patrick is said to have banished snakes from Ireland.
Such was the impact the Irish ‘queen’ made at the court of Queen Elizabeth the First that a new map of Ireland was compiled by the queen's cartographer shortly after her visit.
Her name, written as Grany O'Mally, figures prominently, the only woman listed among the otherwise all-male chieftains, according to author Anne Chambers, an expert on all things Grace O’Malley, whose 1979 book, Grace O'Malley: The Biography of Ireland's Pirate Queen, should be essential reading for the next owner. As for the map, it’s a piece of cartographic history that should hang on these walls.
The property, which includes a separate garage cum studio, is about a ten-minute drive beyond Newport, just off the N59.
The pretty town is about 12 kilometres west of Westport, Co Mayo’s most vibrant urban centre, which is a foodie and entertainment destination all year round.
Agents Savills is seeking €1.7 million for the B2 Ber-rated property.
